Surveying in the South of France
As mobile laser scanning becomes faster, cost-effective and accurate, surveying companies are finding them to be ideal tools for capturing the spatial details of a building in 3D. Point clouds are being used more in the property renovation and architecture markets, where LiDAR and SLAM are driving down costs and increasing efficiency.
CEP Pythagore is a surveying company based in the southeast of France, in both Cannes and Mandelieu. Since the beginning of the business in 1965, it has worked on over 21,000 projects in the Alpes-Maritime and surrounding areas and continues to work on over 800 projects per year.
The company is represented by 2 expert surveyors, David Pierrot and Robin Bruna. They understand the value of using the latest hardware and software technologies to achieve the best results for their clients. In recent years David and Robin have adopted mobile LiDAR scanners into their arsenal of tools, due to their speed and precision.
Scanning a French villa with the ZEB Horizon
In 2021, the company was tasked with completing a survey of a villa on a steep hillside, in Théoule-Sur-Mer. The goal of the project was to create a detailed topographical map of the existing building and surrounding area, working closely with an architect who will use the map to plan and conduct new construction work. As the surveying experts, they establish whether the site is suitable for the planned construction work, and the architect uses the 3D/2D vector to put together plans for the construction work.
The ZEB Horizon was chosen to conduct this scan because of its speed of acquisition, precise measurements, range, and versatility. A large part of the scan took place on a steep hill leading up to the house, so a mobile scanner was the ideal choice.
The surveyor in charge of this scan, Robin Bruna, was able to walk and scan, cutting down the time it took to capture the entire area. Due to the tough terrain, the entire scan was conducted using only the ZEB Horizon.
The area of land scanned, including the house, totaled 8000 sq/m and was captured in just 4 scans. Each scan took approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, so the team was able to capture usable point cloud data in approximately one hour.
Processing and Analyzing the Results
The separate scans were then processed and merged into a complete 3D point cloud before being georeferenced. The team then took the point cloud through a classification process to better understand the land before creating a 3D/2D vector map in Autocad.
They also created longitudinal cuts in the cloud to provide the architect with reliable and visual information about the incline of the hill. The maps created will help the architects carry out landscape insertions and plan out new construction work for the lower part of the property.
The ease of Mobile LiDAR
The use of the ZEB Horizon meant that the team could not only carry out the entire scan with ease, but due to the speed of data acquisition, they were able to get the point cloud into the post-processing stage quicker than other means of data capture, saving them time and money.
The digitization of the land makes it possible for the architect to check the feasibility of construction, without needing to re-visit the area. Finally, in line with the “ordre das geomatics-experts”, David and Robin set up a process that allows the inspection of the measurement accuracy.